Companies screw up. Intentionally or not, they at one point do something wrong. That’s easy to understand, as they are opperated by human beings who are extremely prone to error. After they screw up, they do damage control: try to fix the issue and engage in crisis communications. This damage control PR campaign might go either way: it may help present the company in question as human, but trying to fix everything quickly and make amends for their mistake; or it may end up portraying a greedy, careless entity that makes matters worse by improperly handling the crisis they have created.

Once the issue is solved, the press stops buzzing about the error and its consequences, there is no guarantee the company won’t screw up again. The downside is that this strike two will bring to mind the initial booboo they are known for. Doing damage control for this second PR crisis is ten times harder, especially if it’s close enough to the first incident.  Continue reading

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Regardless of the line of business you’re in, you’re bound to run into a few customers who will put your patience and communication skills to test. Some need you to spend more time explaining what you’re doing than actually doing your job, others think they know your profession better than you do, some will take too long to respond when there’s an emergency at hand. But when it comes to public relations and nightmare customers, these are the ones we fear most.

1. The DIY customer

When something’s going on, why bother talking to the PR guy in your company or to the company you pay to handle such issues? Go ahead and make your own statements, release them and then have the people you initially ignored clean your mess. Think of the Cleavland Cavalier owner who decided a post attacking LeBron James was a good reaction to the player’s decision to choose another team. Continue reading

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